Stringed musical instrument



INVENTOR C. HABERMAN Filed Dec.

ATTORNEY STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Jan. 20, 1931;

Patented Jan. 20, 1931 UNITED STATES ,P'ATEN'T- OFFICE,

CHARLES HABERMAN, 0E NORTH BE GEN, NEW JERSEY, assrenon 'IO OSCAR SCHMIDT, me, or JnnsE-Y CITY, NEW JEssEza CORPORATION or NEW JERSEY STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Application filed December 20, 1929. Serial No. 415,373.

The invention relates to stringed musical instrumentsand has more particular refer-.

ence to the type known 'as Hawaiian guitars, which are usually played with theuse of picks on the fingers of .the right hand, for the melody, and with a so-called steel held in'the left hand, for the accompaniment.

- It has been found in practice, more particularly in the case of beginners, that the arm manipulating. the .steel soon becomes,

tired or cramped, with the resultthat the pleasure of playing is interfered with, and, in the case of beginners, progress is substantially delayed. Because of this, means have heretofore been provided, as disclosed in Letters Patent No. 1,758,626 of May 13, 1930, for supporting the steel in a manner permitting of its manipulation in theplaying of theguitar in substantially the same free way as when held by the players hand, but without strainer effort on the part of theplayer in the holding ofthe same. Such means comprises a supporting rod mounted on the instrument in a position above and lengthwise of the strings, and a sliding universal joint connection between the steel and said rod whereby the steel may be freely manipulated for playing engagement with the strings. The supportingrod of this priordevice was mounted on they instrument in different ways to permitofits movement transversely of the strings in the manipulation of the string-engaging member,v but such ways were found to be somewhat expensive and also cumbersome; bythe latter term meaning that the transverse movement of there-d in the manipulation of its supported string-engaging member was not as free desirable. For, such reason, it has been the object of the present invention to improve the steel supporting means of the aforesaid applicationlin a way to render the same more effective by increasing the ease Fig. 1 is a plan view of a guitar equipped with a playing attachment embodying the invention; the attachment being shown, by full and dotted lines, in two different positions.

Fig. 2 is a side view, also showing, by full and dotted lines, two different positions of the attachment. V i

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross section on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the steel in a different playing position.

To explain in detail, the instrument shown is a so-ealled Hawaiian guitar of usual construction, the same comprising the body portion 2 equipped with strings 3 mounted thereon in usual manner. p i Mounted on the bodyportion 2 is a supportingrod 4 which extends lon itudinall of the strings in a position above t e same w ere they overlie the frets 5; this rod, as here shown, being pivotally mounted on the body 2 by means of a short vertically ranging extension 6 at oneend thereof loosely fitting in. a socket 7 of said body, whereby the rod is permitted a swinging movement abovethe strings in a direction transversely thereof, as indicated in Fig. 1.

The steel hereinbefore referred to, indicated at 10, has a sliding connection with the rod .4 through the medium of a universal joint connection whereby it maybe readil. manipulated for playing engagement wit the strings, The connection of the steel with the rod ashere shown is the same as, that disclosed in the aforesaid application. It comprises a sleeve 11 which is loosel mounted on the rod for longitudinal sliding and turning movements thereon. This sleeve carries a fixedly connected block ,12 to which 'thesteel is attached, by means to be presently described, for sliding and pivotal movements relatively thereto.

The steel 10 as here shown is'cut away at its center to provide an opening 13 through which the supporting rod 4 extends, whereby the-lower edge 10, constituting the steel .pr0per,is in position beneath the rod for engagement with the strings, while the upper Pa ial en ti u g the hand e, is in position above the rod for convenient grasping by the player.

A threaded pin14, attached to the steel in a position extending perpendicularly across its opening 13, passes loosely through an opening in the block 12 to effect a pivotal connection of the steel with said block. A coiled spring 15 surrounding said'pin 14 and expanding between the block 12 and the top wall of the opening 13 in the steel, acts to normally hold the latter in a raised position spaced from the strings.

With the steel mounted on the rod 4 in the way shown and described, the player may grasp the upper part of the steel and readily shift thesame for usual playing engagement with-any one or more of the strings, that is, the steel may be shifted. lengthwise of the strings by a sliding movement on the rod, as indicated by the full anddotted line positions of the samein Fig. 1; or itmay be rocked or tilted on the rod to bring it to an angular position for so-called tipping of the strings, as shown'in Fig. 4; or it maybe moved-transversely of the strings by a swinging movement of the rod to permit of its tip ping difierent strings, also as shown in Fig.

4c; or it may be moved bodily downward against the pressure of the spring 15 for simultaneously engaging all of the strings, as in barring as shown in Fig. 3; or it may beswung horizontally. about itspivot .14 for barring the. strings at'ditterent points in the length thereof, this horizontal turning of the steel also facilitating the manipulation of thesame in-that it readily adapts itself tothe various angular positions assumed by the hand in shifting the steel to its different playing or string-engaging positions.

' By'reason of the supporting rod, 4 being pvioted only at one end, it has a free swinging movement over the strings not.permitted by the, supporting rod ,of the aforesaid application andthereby permitting ofa more ready and. free manipulation of the supported steel.

Furthermore, the rod lof the present device isof spring metal, permitting Gilt/8 136113611- dicular movement relatively to the strings,

.asshownbythe full and; dottedlin-e positions of Fig. ;2. This :is of importance inthat it permits of the ready movement of the steel to iand froma position of engagement with V the strings somewhat independently of that permitted: by; its sliding connection Wltll the block 12, againstthe pressure of the spring l5 ;,i n fact, when the steel is -,ad'jaoent the free end of the rod 4:;theperpendicularyield ofzthe latter is. sufficient. topermit .of theengagementof the'steel with the strings with- I out the necessity of any downward pressure of the steelagainstthe spring 15. As the steel 'ismoved along therod towards the pivoted end of the-latter, however, and the yield of the-rodthereby decreases, the neorvsaesi essary downward movement of the steel on the rod for engagement with the strings is of course permitted by greater yielding of the spring 15.

What I claim is:

1. ,Incornbination witha stringed musical instrument, a playing attachment compris- -ing a-supporting bar extending lengthwise .--of thestrings and being pivotally mounted on the instrumentfor swinging transverse movement above the strings, and a string-engaging memberslidably mounted on the swinging supporting bar for longitudinal and -'t-ransverse-movements relatively to the dinal and transverse movements relatively to the strings '3. In combmation with a stringed musical instrument, a playingattachment comprising a supporting bar extending lengthwise of the strings and being pivotally mounted atone end on the instrument for swinging transverse movement above the strings and alsobei'ng movable at its free end toward and from the strings, and a string-engaging member slidably mounted on the supporting bar for longitudinal, transverse and perpendicular movements relatively to the strings.

4. In combination with a stringed musical instrument, a playing attachment comprising a supporting bar extending lengthwise of the stringsand being pivotally mounted at one end on the instrument for swinging tranverse movement above the strings and also being movable at its free end toward and from the strings, a string-engaging member slidably mounted on the supporting bar for longitudinal, transverse and perpendicular movements relatively to the strings, andmeans 'yieldingly connectingthe str1ngengag1ngmember w th its support ing rod whereby it is capable of perpendicular movement relatively to the strings independent of that permitted by the rod.

5. In combination with a stringed musical instrument, a playing-attachment comprising asupportingbar extending lengthwise of the strings and being pivotally mounted on the instrumentfor swinging transverse movementabove the strings, and a string-envgaging member slidably mounted on the swinging supporting bar for longitudinal and transverse'movements relative to the strings, said member being in the form of a straight-edged barof alength sufficient to engagethe full set of strings in a direction transversely thereof.

6. In combination with a stringed musical instrument, a playing attachment comprising a supporting bar extending lengthwise of the strings and being pivotally mounted on the instrument for swinging transverse movement above the strings, a string-engaging member in the form of a straight-ed ed bar of alength sufiicient to engage the ull set of strings in a direction transversely thereof, and a universal joint connection between said member and the pivoted su porting bar whereby the member is capable of longitudinal, transverse and tilting movements relatively to the strings.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CHARLES HABERMAN. V 

